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Is Pinterest on Your Radar?

I started playing around on Pinterest a couple of
months ago, and I have to say: it’s MY cup of tea. I didn’t think any new
social media platform could get my interest these days - with the plethora of
latest and greatest competing for my attention - but this one definitely has. Considering
how much time most of us already spend on social media, I am very impressed that
it got my buy-in at all – and that really says a lot, because time is a
valuable commodity in my life right now. One of the reasons I think it works
for me – and its huge female demographic – is it’s a visual rather than text
based platform. But I don’t know the science behind it, I just know I like it.

I won’t go into the intricacies of how it works, and
if you want to know, I can suggest this link,
this link
and this link
to provide all of the suitable background to get going. Additionally, this link
will give you some recent insight into the stats of Pinterest
and with anywhere from 60-87 percent of the users female (the stats vary
broadly), and more than 10 million users since 2010, it’s now the third most
popular social media platform in the world. I’d suggest it’s definitely
worth a look in, whether you are a participator or a voyeur.

The simple fact is, go to www.pinterest.com, check it out, if you
like the look of it, apply for an invitation and within a few days you’ll be
going.

However what I wanted to talk about today is the why and
who – because some of my friends would really benefit from this, but it’s also
an awesome platform for bloggers. On Sunday, I published “Some Crazy Stuff”
about photo doctoring of the stars, and for the first time ever, I got more
than 600 hits in one day on my blog – that’s a lot for me – and the majority
came through Pinterest. So with ambitions to spread my blog to a wider
audience, I can say it’s definitely helping me achieve my goal. BUT you must
put a photo on every blog you want to pin – something you must do anyway if you
want your blog to succeed.

Getting into the specifics and hoping to save you some
time, I’ve come up with a starting list of who will like it – here goes:

If you’re a blogger (as I said above) and you want to
share your words with a broader audience, then this is a great platform to do
so

If you’re in online publishing – in any industry – set
yourself up on Pinterest. I’m seeing a rush in this field

If you’re in the education field, check it out –
apparently this is quite a hit with teachers – I’m not a teacher, so don’t
understand exactly how, but worth looking into if you are a teacher. Here’s a
link and another
to give you some insight

A bit of a DIY junkie or love craft? That alone is one
of the biggest reasons people use the site

If you are a photographer or selling photography
services – get going, but #tag your location if selling a service

A very large part of Pinterest is focused on the
Wedding industry – dresses, bridesmaid’s frocks, engagement rings, cakes,
etc... definitely not for me, but lots of people do love this fairytale stuff

If you love your books, music and movies,
recommendations abound. The sci-fi/fantasy books industry seems to be getting a lot of
attention on Pinterest, which makes me happy

If you’re into home renovations, want to make your
home beautiful, spend time dreaming about your ideal home, or you’re an
interior decorator – professional or amateur – it’s for you

Anyone who loves food, cooking, recipes and setting a
lovely table

Travel and dreams – some will go, some will spend
their life dreaming of going – either way, a perfect place to plan or dream

Inspirational stuff – it abounds with quotes and
cutesy images – in fact, most of the ones doing the rounds on Facebook these
days must come from Pinterest. Humour, love, education, family, business – you name
it, you’ll find a quote to suit your state of mind

Art – whether you enjoy looking at it or enjoy doing
it, this section is brilliant – in fact if you’re an artist, share your art on
Pinterest and spread the word. Also if you’re looking for a new tattoo design,
perfect place for ideas

If you are a heterosexual woman or a gay man, there is
plenty of eye candy to enjoy – feel free to follow my Hot Blokes
pin. Straight boys and gay women, same can be said for hot women

If you’re into spirituality or religion, and want to share
your wisdom or contribute to the story, this is a great opportunity to influence
beyond your circle

A lot of the images inspire wonderful memories from
life – for me it’s specific moments in time, especially around travel and I get
to add my memories to someone else’s photo or image - that’s pretty sweet

If you’re into architecture or design, this is for you

If you want to be inspired to get off your arse and
exercise – there’s plenty of hot and healthy bods to perv at, and ideas to get motivated

If you like cute and cuddly or exotic animals – plenty
to see here too

Cars and motorbikes, gardening, history, prints &
posters, technology, sports or products – there are sections on all

I could go on and on and on....

Finally, the business opportunities on Pinterest are gradually
being understood and there is advice to integrate Pinterest into your content
strategy, but I’m not going to talk about that here. However, if you’re
interested, I found two good links to reference here
and here
that talk about this. For my friends who’d benefit, Pinterest has an ecommerce
function, so if you are selling products, services or ideas, you can take advantage
of this channel. I have a lot of great friends who could achieve awesome things
with Pinterest.

With that, you can follow me on Pinterest here and let
me know what you think OR if you're already on it, how it's working out for you?

I certainly love it and find it a perfect waste of time
for those moments in the day when all inspiration is gone, I’m bleary eyed, and
all I’m capable of is staring at a screen. It gets me through...

Yours, without the bollocks

Andrea

PS: I take no responsibility and cannot be held legally accountable for
anyone getting addicted to Pinterest as a result of reading this blog. I do not
find social media addictive, and while I enjoy its role in my life, thankfully
I am capable of controlling it. I wish you luck with sorting out your control issues
if you have them J

I grew up in country Australia, went to university in Melbourne studying music and ancient history, joined the Australian Army as a musician, entered the world of public relations, and then decided to head off around the world. That was 1995 and I'm still going, having lived in London, Boston, NYC, Thailand and Singapore - with a couple of short trips back to Australia in between. Singapore-based now, with an adorable husband and two rambunctious sons, my professional background is communication strategy and content marketying, with a focus on business and creative writing. My passion is people from all walks of life, and the amazing diversity of this extraordinary planet. I reckon life is pretty great, even though it can be crap sometimes too. I also blog extensively, with three blogs - my personal blog Without the Bollocks where I talk about life, my professional blog SAJE focused on all things communication, and a kids adventure blog for Singapore. Hey what can I say, I need to write!